Thursday, March 11, 2010

But:

As little significance as I give to the specifics of my own anxiety dreams (the who, what, when, and where), it's still disconcerting to learn that I show up in my students' anxiety dreams.

Not one, but two students reported this to me this week, and both of their dreams involved my yelling at them. In one case, it was over a very minor spelling error (a mistaken vowel in the middle of an unusual Shakespearean name), which prompted me to shout, "If you can't tell the difference between 'E' and 'A,' you're NEVER GOING TO SUCCEED IN COLLEGE!"

I didn't want to know this, and I hope never to hear such a story again. But I guess I'm not displeased to learn that now and again I play the role of "random hardass authority figure" in their collective subconscious.